Photographing Cape Breton’s Spectacular Cabot Trail

The Cabot Trail on Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island ranks among the most scenic drives in North America. While only about 300 kilometres long, it packs in an incredible amount of variety, with breathtaking coastal scenery on both the east and west coasts, forests, picturesque valleys, and Canada’s largest inland sea.

Cabot Trail.

A third of the route winds through Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The most iconic views are along the west coast, south of Pleasant Bay, where the winding road clings to cliffs dropping into the sea. The east coast is just as dramatic, with scenic spots such as Black Brook Beach, Broad Cove, and Ingonish Bay divided in two by a long peninsula jutting into the sea. The most famous landmark on the peninsula is the historic Keltic Lodge, perched atop a rugged cliff. The heavily forested interior in the park has a unique mix of northern and southern plant species not found elsewhere in Canada.

Historic Keltic Lodge.

Historic Keltic Lodge.

Roadside pull-offs provide for numerous photo possibilities, although your photo ops expand considerably when you hit some of the park’s 26 trails. The Skyline Trail is the best known, providing views over the winding road along the west coast cliffs, while the Coastal Trail is excellent for views over the rocky east coast shoreline. For more details on hiking, see our earlier post. Three Hikes in Cape Breton Highlands National Park

The resort town of Baddeck is usually considered a starting point for the route, since it is a short drive from Sydney, Cape Breton’s main city. The town sits on the shore of Bras d’Or Lake, considered Canada’s largest inland sea since it is a saltwater inlet rather than a true fresh-water lake. The quiet bay has made this a haven for watersports such as sailing, kayaking, and paddle boarding. Baddeck is famous as the home of Alexander Graham Bell, where a museum tells his story and his descendants still have the magnificent mansion that he built.

Alexander Graham Bell estate, Baddeck.

Kidston Island Lighthouse, Baddeck

Heading northwest from Baddeck, the Cabot Trail passes through the delightful Margaree Valley, a fertile area that seems a world away from the rugged rocky cliffs farther north in the highlands. The Margaree River is a Canadian Heritage River, famous for fly fishing for salmon and trout.

Fly fishing, Margaree River.

Sign outside a church in the Margaree Valley.

Scottish heritage flourishes almost everywhere in Cape Breton, and many people still speak Gaelic. Baddeck even has its own roaming bagpiper. An exception is around the west coast town of Cheticamp, home to a prominent French-speaking Acadian culture.

Baddeck’s wandering bagpiper.

Most important, use the Cabot Trail as a framework for the trip, and be sure to venture onto some of the side roads. In the south, for example, the Margaree Valley has a number of roads to explore through beautiful countryside. But the place to really get off the beaten track is in the northeast, north of the national park. One evening we went to White Point, a spectacular spot for sunset (see our posting Perfect Evening at White Point). One morning we went for sunrise to Cabot’s Landing Provincial Park. It was here that the highway’s namesake, John Cabot, first landed in 1497. The rising sun illuminated the long, red-sand beach, and we had it all to ourselves.

Cabot’s Landing Provincial Park

While you can drive the Cabot Trail in a day, we would consider three days as the minimum to allow, and much longer if possible. People debate as to whether it is better to drive it clockwise or counter-clockwise. We don’t see a significant advantage either way, although by driving counter-clockwise you’ll be on the outside lane for the best coastal views and it may be a bit easier to turn onto the roadside pull-offs.

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Meet Robin & Arlene

Robin and Arlene are authors of 13 books, including bestsellers and award-winners, plus they have contributed travel writing and photography to well over 100 other publications around the world. read more...

Awards & Achievements

June, 2018: Our article Sleeping with Rhinos on Photojourneys won First Place for the Best Outdoor/Adventure Feature at the Travel Media Association of Canada awards.

February, 2018: Our photo of Saskatchewan’s William River received a Highly Commended award in the Habitat and Landscapes category of the WildlifePhoto.com international nature photography competition.

Photo Journeys was named among the 100 Best Travel Photography Blogs on the web by FeedSpotJune, 2017: Our photo of two Alaskan Brown Bears fighting over prime fishing spots in Katmai National Park, Alaska won 1st place in the Best Action Photo Award in the Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) national awards.

May, 2017: Our photo was named a Finalist in the Siena International Photo Awards. The 2017 competition received 50,000 entries from 130 countries. The photo was of an Alaskan Brown Bear and salmon in Katmai National Park, Alaska.

February, 2017: Our photo of an Alaskan Brown Bear and salmon was awarded Highly Commended status in the Animal Behaviour Category of the 2016 WildlifePhoto.com competition. The image will be part of a photo exhibit at Big Screen Plaza in New York City.

June, 2016: Our photo of a brown bear fishing for salmon in Katmai National Park, Alaska, won 1st Place for the Best Action Photo at the Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) Awards.

Our photo of Bufflehead ducks in their spring mating ritual won Outstanding Achievement in the Best Action Photo at the same awards.

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2017 Bestsellers

Our book, The Great Saskatchewan Bucket List, topped the list as the Number One Bestseller on SaskBooks' (Saskatchewan Publishers Group) of Saskatchewan-published books for 2017. This was the 6th year in a row that the Bucket List was in the Number One spot.